Insulating splice-cover



J. B. HAMILTON. INSULATING SPLICE COVER. 1 APPLICATION FILED ocr. I0. 1919.

Patented Oct. 5, 1920.

:UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES B. HAMILTON, OF HOBOKEN, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO JOHN C. FARR, OF HQIBQKEN, NEW JERSEY.

INSULATING SPLICE-COVER.

I Application filed October 10, 1919.

T 0 all 10710712, it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JAMES B; HAMILTON, a citizen ofthe United States, and resident of Hoboken, in the county of Hudson and State of Xew Jersey, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Insulating Splice-Covers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a cap or cover for use in insulating splices or bared portions of electric wires, and more particularly for the insulation of the splices of wires employed in electric installation as, for instance, electric light fixtures. Such an article is disclosed in my United States Patent No. 1176288, dated March 21, 1916, and the present device constitutes an im provement on the article shown in the said patent. I

My objects are to provide an article of this kind, which will effect a thorough and satisfactory insulation when applied by any ordinary workman'of this art, and which does not, therefore, necessitate the application of skill or experience in order to accomplish its purpose. Another object is to provide such an article which is very cheap to produce and which may be applied and removed with great ease and rapidity, will accommodate itself to various sizes and irregularities in the wires or splices, and may be repeatedly used. i A further object'consists in providing certain improvements in the form, composition and construction of the article,wl1ereby the above named and other objects may be effectively attained.

A practical embodiment of the invention is represented in the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 represents a side view of the article applied to a three wire splice.

Fig. 2 represents a central section of the same.

Fig. 3 represents a view, partly in section and partly in elevation, showing the article removed from the splice.

In electric wiring, in various forms of installation, such as the wiring of light fixturesused in dwellings and other build ings, it has been the general practice, after the band ends of the wires: have been spliced or soldered together to wrap the exposed part with an adhesive rubber tape,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 5, 1920. Serial No. 329,663.

ing it, to enable it to cover the exposed part. In such cases, the stretching of the tape naturally reduces its thickness, thus lessening its capacity as an insulator. And, furthermore, this tension of the rubber tape renders it susceptible of being punctured or chafed through in case rough ends remain on the wire or rough points on the solder. Again, this shortness of the tape promotes a tendency to ineffective or incomplete covering at the end of the splice.

Under these conditions, reliance is placed on the use of the friction cloth tape but, it of itself is not a sufficient insulator; and the result of the practice outlined above is that the splices constitute weak points in the installation and become a source or great danger of fire through grounding of the conductors on the metal .of the outlet and junction boxes, cabinets, metal parts of fixtures, etc. Not only do these conditions give rise to danger of fire. but short circuiting is also apt to result where poorly pro tected splices of wires of different polarity are brought into contact with each other or engage a common metallic conductor.

My present device is designed to eliminate all these. dangers and disadvantages while, at the same time, lesseningthe labor and-expense of these operations.

Referring to the drawings,xthe cap is composed of some suitable elastic insulating material, such as vulcanized or semi-viii canized rubber, and I prefer to use a rubber compound which is known in the art as new code rubber. It will be seen that the device consists of an elongated body portion 1, an enlarged spherical closed end 2 and a flare or skirt portion 3 at the open end. I The body portion is molded with a channel 4 which channel develops into an enlarged space in the end 2 and into a flare at the end 3.

and I have shown an instance in which three wires 6, 7, 8 are twisted together, as this is a common form of splice.

It will be noted that the walls of the body portion 1 are relatively thick for an article of this size so as to provide suflicient insulation to comply with the National Electrical Code, and that the wall atzthe spherical end 7 2 is somewhat thicker thanthe walls of the body portion. 7

This enlarged end 2 with its thickened wall is a feature of importance for the rea-.

a little thicker at the end 2 than in thebody portion, even after it has been applied, as in dicated in Fig. 2. The channel 4 preferably has a smooth interior, but may be ofirregularinternal surface for the purpose of securing more complete frictional grip on splicesof small wires.

The cap is made of a convenient length to cover the ordinary splice, andthe flared end 3 provides a skirt which is designed to ride up on the insulated part of the wires -6, 7, 8, when the cap is fully applied, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, so as to insure a complete covering of the exposed part,

I also make the channel 4 somewhat less in diameter than the splice upon which the cap is intended to be placed so that the elasticity of the material of which the cap is composed will cause it to tightly grip the splice and remain firmly in position. The elasticity of the material also enables a capof a given size to be used for splices composed of wires of several diiferent sizes, so

-that it is not necessary to manufacture a may be resorted to in the form, composition and construction of the article without departing from the spirit and scope of my in vention and hence I do not intend to be limited to the "details herein shown and described, except as they may be set forth in the claims.

What I claim is: 1. An article of the character described, consisting of a hollow cylindrical body portion composed of elastic insulating material angl having an enlarged hollow spherical e11 2. An article of the character described, consisting of a body portion composed of elastic insulating material and provided with a channel therein and having thick walls, said body portion also having an enlarged closed end with a space therein, the wall of the end being thicker than the walls of the body portion.

3. An article of the character described,

consisting of a. substantially cylindrical hol low body portion composed of elastic insul'ating material and provided with an enlarged substantially spherical {closed end and an enlarged substantially frusto-conical open end;

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention, I have signed my name this 6th day of October, 1919.

JAMES B. HAMILTON" 

